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Welcome to the lighter side of flyfishing! We welcome your stories here!

December 10th, 2001

Love? Fishing? Love?
By Don Cianca, Butte, Montana

The lives of humans are filled with many complexities (in
case you had not noticed). When fishing competes with love
or love competes with fishing, it does indeed become a
complex situation.

Fishing was an almost constant subject in our home conversations.
Especially when there was a family gathering. Dad was born
in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and spent much of his
youth either in the woods or fishing a stream. The depressed
economy there in the 1920's found the entire family moving
to Chicago where there was a better opportunity to make a
living. Once he reached his twenties, dad married. Having
a family of his own, priorities were dictated by his
responsibilities. Although the subject of fishing
continued in conversations, actually getting out
to fish seldom took place.

I was influenced by all those discussions that concerned
fishing. In fact, growing up to me meant being able to go
fishing. Dad spent time teaching me to use a casting rod
and reel. As the teen years began their overwhelming
influence on me and my disposition, getting out to fish
on my own was getting easier. City life did not lend
itself to experiences like my dads. There was no nearby
stream where Brookies could test my abilities, and at
the time, Lake Michigan had little to offer any
fisherman.

The teen years and high school found me with distractions.
Fishing certainly never left my mind, but it was easier
to play baseball than to try to find a place I could
fish. Then, another "distraction" entered my life. . .GIRLS!
If at one time I thought fishing occupied every corner of
my brain, it was nothing compared to the effect of the
opposite sex. (Does it sound familiar? ) During that
time I met and fell in love with the girl who eventually
became my wife. I suppose that like most romances, it
had its share of difficulties. We "went steady," as was
the lingo of the times, through my senior year. As it
became obvious that we were serious about one another,
the superior female brain generated the question;
"Is this really love?" Well, although there were no
doubts in my mind, an agreement was made. We would
each date someone else to make sure it was the real
thing.

My wife did indeed date someone else during our trial
separation and I had competition where she was concerned.
There was a chance that I would be the loser in this
competition since a good looking college girl has no
trouble turning heads. On the other hand, I could
very well find myself in a situation where she no
longer "was the one."

Since my mind was already made up, I didn't have to
date anyone else to be sure. Instead, I made plans to
head to Minnesota to fish for a week. To date, fishing
has been the only competition my wife has had since
we first met. January 2001, we celebrated our 45th
Wedding Anniversary and for the last thirty plus years
we have been living in Montana.

You bet I'll agree that I'm lucky. Because I have both
love, AND fishing! ~ Uncle Don,